The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“You thought it.” I sat up. “That’s what I’m trying to tell
you. And that wasn’t the only time that happened,” I said,
and then I told him about Delano. “Somehow, we
communicated…telepathically.”
“I…” The shock Kieran felt was like ice water. “Can you
feel my imprint—my mark, like you did with Delano?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried.”
“Can you?” When I nodded, he sat up, his knee pressing
against mine. “Then try it.”
Eager to figure out if I could, I inhaled deeply and
focused on Kieran. The feel of his shock was still there, cool
and slippery, but I pushed past that. The center of my chest
hummed, and I felt it then, the invisible pathway that
pushed past emotions and thoughts. It was like a cord
connecting us, one invisible to the eye, and it fed back an
earthy, woodsy sensation, one that reminded me of…
“Cedar.”
“What?” Kieran blinked.
“You feel like cedar.”
He stared at me. “I feel like a tree?”
“Not really. I mean, that’s just what your…imprint or
whatever feels like to me. Something rich and woodsy,
connected to the land.” I shrugged. “That’s the only way I
know how to explain it.”
“And what did Delano feel like? A featherlight sapling?”
A laugh burst from me. “No. Not a sapling. He felt like…I
don’t know. Like spring.”
“And I feel woodsy.”
“I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t have said anything.”
One side of his lips kicked up. “I kind of like it, though—
the rich and woodsy part.”
I rolled my eyes as I leaned back against the pillows.
“I’ve never been able to feel any of that before. Or hear
thoughts.”
“Before you ask, no, I cannot read your thoughts. Not
then or now. I only heard that one,” he said, and I had been